Craftech’s Plastic Fasteners Used in Products for the Blind

A long time Craftech customer, the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in Louisville, KY has been making products for blind students since 1858. The company started with a single printing press that produced tactile books. In 1879, the federal Act to Promote the Education of the Blind designated APH as the official source of educational texts and aids for legally blind students throughout the United States-a mandate which continues to the present.

Today, APH employs over 300 people and occupies a 280,000 sq. ft. facility. It is the world’s largest 501 C(3) non-profit organization that creates educational workplace, recreational, and independent living products for people who are visually impaired. APH now offers a large range of products and services to the one million blind people and four million severely visually impaired people living in the United States. APH not only manufactures books in braille, large print, and digital audio formats; they also make software, board games, accessible tests, talking calculators, and more.

APH currently uses Craftech’s plastic fasteners in two of their products, a wooden Junior Constructo set and a braille-large print protractor. The protractor features both braille and large print, so that it can be used by students with varying levels of visual impairment. APH uses Craftech nylon knurled nuts to fasten the pivoting wand to the base of the protractor. The nut has an open hole in its head, allowing a student to insert a pencil or push pin at the vertex of the angle.

The Junior Constructo set consists of wooden slats held together by Craftech bolts and nuts. These fasteners are made out of nylon, which means they are easy to dye different colors. For this set, Craftech dyes the nuts yellow and the bolts red. The color coding of the different parts in the Constructo set makes them easier to use for children with limited vision. Check out this video of a visually impaired child using the Junior Constructo set. Looks like a lot of fun!

APH came to Craftech originally because their former supplier of parts for the Constructo set had become unreliable. They have been working with Craftech since 2008. They are loyal customers because Craftech has helpful customer service and reliable delivery dates. Craftech is also willing to work with APH on smaller orders, which is helpful.

In addition to the core business of producing in-house designed products, APH’s custom production service reformats regular print into accessible media for government agencies, corporations, libraries, restaurants, and a host of other groups that want their materials to be available to visually impaired customers, employees, and stockholders.